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The author analyzes the response of European Union institutions to the socio-political crisis in Serbia (2024–2025) in the context of normative power, as well as the key actors and motives involved. The research examines how the European Union, as a normative power, influences the establishment of the rule of law in Serbia in the context of protests as a manifestation of a deeper political crisis. The author poses a question whether EU institutions primarily reinforce their normative engagement through discourse rather than through concrete actions aimed at strengthening the rule of law in Serbia. Is there a difference between various forms of the EU’s normative role and a discrepancy among the institutions in that regard? An additional aim is to explore the role of actors such as the student movement, the academic community, and the National Convention on the European Union in the context of normative entrepreneurship and norm diffusion. Methodologically, the study combines content analysis of key documents – such as the European Parliament’s resolution on Serbia (May 2025) and the European Commission’s rule-of-law report (July 2025) – with discourse analysis of the European Parliament’s September plenary debate. The author finds that the positions of these institutions indicate growing EU dissatisfaction with the state of democracy, and particularly the rule of law, and that the previous declarative and selective commitment to European integration can no longer be regarded as sufficient proof of dedication to the European path. The paper concludes that the protests in Serbia, as a manifestation of a broader socio-political crisis, together with the aforementioned non-state actors, act as a corrective mechanism for the EU’s normative power, exposing the gap between the normatively oriented narrative and its faulty implementation. The crisis also highlights the Union’s questionable capacity to apply conditionality mechanisms more consistently, with the European Parliament showing greater normative consistency than the European Commission, alongside certain indications of stronger normative engagement, primarily through a sharpening of the narrative.

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With the growing academic, political, and media interest in energy issues over the past few decades, there has been a noticeable emergence of new and/or redefinition of existing concepts addressing these issues from various disciplinary perspectives. One such conceptual framework is energy regionalism. Although often unjustifiably overlooked, the regional level of analysis, alongside global and national levels, can offer valuable insights into key issues of energy security and energy policy. Accordingly, the aim of this paper is to synthesize the most significant perspectives on energy regionalism and to shed light on how some of the key energy related issues interact with regionalization processes. The outcomes of such dynamics are so-called energy regions, characterized by a diversity of actors, governance practices, and norms regulating the established relations. Although the development of the energy regionalism concept is still in its early stages, the analysis highlights the need for further critical examination and refinement of the concept, especially considering that certain energy-related issues may have transformative implications for the social and political dynamics of a region.

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The paper examines the deterioration of regional relations and stability in the Western Balkans, focusing on the foreign policies of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), beginning with the onset of acute tensions in 2021. The study employs a comparative foreign policy analysis within a constructivist theoretical framework, arguing that identity-based concerns and disputes are the primary drivers of foreign policy in both states, often to their mutual detriment. Using interpretive process tracing, we observe how conflicting national identities and national roles, as well as incompatible identity narratives, undermine regional reconciliation and stability. The findings indicate that identity-based competition founded on concerns of incompatible moral superiority and legitimacy claims between Serbs and Bosniaks generates diplomatic and political crises. Since the two nations primarily use their foreign policies to pursue identity-driven interests, reconciliation is significantly hindered. The findings therefore suggest the need for a more pragmatic foreign policy approach based on the de-escalation of tensions and the avoidance of unproductive identity conflicts, which can lead to major crises and further deterioration of relations.

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One of the important phenomena of international politics in the decades after the end of the Cold War is the rise of Russian-Chinese relations, which Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping in 2022 described as “friendship without limits”. The initial unifying element was provided by the threat perception embodied in American policy during the enormous imbalance in resources between the leading powers in the system. However, the identification of a significant common threat and the increasingly intense partnership have not, for now, resulted in the formation of a military alliance between the two states. The traditional approaches of the balance of power or the balance of threat does not provide an explanation for this empirical phenomenon. The paper points out, from the perspective of neoclassical realism, the specific characteristics of states dissatisfied with the existing international order that can encourage or limit the establishment of alliances. For revisionist powers, these are the scope of advocated changes to the existing international order and the risk appetite for their implementation. In the context of Russian-Chinese relations, although both powers are interested in limited changes to the order, there is a difference in risk appetite. Russia has become progressively more risk-averse since the end of the Cold War, culminating in the War in Ukraine in 2022, while China, despite its ambitious strategy, has maintained a higher degree of risk aversion. A differentiated approach to risk reflects on the relationship between potential allies. Asymmetric readiness to use force has limited the possibility of developing Russian-Chinese relations into a classic military alliance.

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This study explores China’s health diplomacy in Africa during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, employing an anthropological perspective to analyze diplomatic relations. The research question asks: How did the discourses and practices of Chinese medical assistance shape relations with African countries amid a global crisis? The context encompasses the historical cooperation between China and Africa, from independence movements to the Belt and Road Initiative, focusing on the pandemic period characterized by donations of vaccines, medical equipment, and expert teams. Analysis of media sources and reports from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicates fluid diplomatic practices, where discourses of solidarity and strategic cooperation coexist with national priorities. China strengthens its global influence by securing African support in international forums, while Africa leverages aid for health security and developmental goals. The anthropology of diplomacy underscores the importance of understanding the cultural and historical contexts of these relations, where vaccine donations and medical aid foster mutual trust and cooperation. As China promotes the image of a global partner, African countries actively align their priorities with this partnership, striving to achieve their own developmental goals. Future ethnographic research could contribute to a deeper understanding of how local communities perceive this aid, thereby shaping fairer global health policies aligned with African aspirations.

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In this study, we adopt the structural vector auto-regressive (SVAR) model to assess the degree to which global uncertainties affect the relationship between financial integration and consumption smoothing in Egypt and Nigeria using quarterly data from 2010 to 2020. The study hypothesises that global uncertainty shocks will have adverse effects on consumption smoothing in both Nigeria and Egypt. Our main results from the study show that the economic policy uncertainty shock has a more declining effect on consumption smoothing in Egypt than other global uncertainty proxies. On the other hand, global economic condition shocks have a more declining effect on consumption smoothing in Nigeria than other global uncertainty proxies. In addition, financial integration accounted for more variability in consumption smoothing in Egypt than in Nigeria; this may be due to the fact that Egypt is more financially integrated than Nigeria. We therefore make the following recommendations: Nigeria may diversify the economy by promoting growth in other sectors, such as manufacturing, to reduce the impact of external shocks on the economy and provide greater stability for households. Policymakers in Egypt can diversify export markets and reduce reliance on the US market to mitigate the impact of US policy fluctuations on Egypt’s economy.

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The focus of the research is the topic of compulsory licencing, the right under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights for countries to use patented medicines without the patent holder’s consent as a form of relief (flexibilities) for developing countries. The research aims to assess whether the application of compulsory licencing has fulfilled its primary goals and purpose. The research problem is the inconsistency between the compulsory licencing application in practice and the original purpose. It is reflected in the mass use of this right by countries with higher incomes and, secondly, in the symbolic presence of contagious diseases. That was investigated using the Generalized Linear Model. The results confirmed that the actual situation of public health and the income level of beneficiaries had been marginalised as grounds for exercising compulsory licencing. The arbitrary application of compulsory licencing has led to the situation that the poorest countries, with the most significant health crises, remain in the background of this World Trade Organisation mechanism.

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This research strives to present a comparative analysis of the vaccine diplomacy of the United States, China, India, and Russia during the COVID19 pandemic. As each of the examined countries possesses the technology to research and manufacture the vaccines, as well as the logistical capacity and infrastructure for their global distribution, it was natural to expect that they would start with their own vaccine diplomacy, especially in the countries and regions that are considered a priority for their national and foreign policy interests. However, each country had a different approach to the vaccine diplomacy engagement based on their vaccine manufacturing capacity and global distribution limitations. At the same time, competition was observed between the rival powers. It can be concluded that although even such a severe global crisis as the COVID-19 pandemic failed to bring closer cooperation between the great powers, such a crisis established vaccine diplomacy as an additional element of foreign policy, and it will most likely be developed as a soft-power tool even more in the near future.

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The main aim of this paper is to analyse the most important challenges of Chinese investments in renewable energy projects in Central and East European countries. The focus of research is on challenges within the China-Central and Eastern European countries cooperation framework because theoretical and empirical research is mainly oriented towards traditional energy projects. The analysed period spans from 2014 until 2022. With 26 active or completed projects out of the 29 proposed projects in the renewable energy field, the cooperation has been positive so far, but with modest outcomes. The investors in this field were both Chinese state-owned and private companies, while most of the projects were realised through investments and not loans. The main challenges within China-Central and East European countries renewable energy cooperation were political issues, public policies and strategies of national governments, corruption, finances, and legal issues.

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Understanding a hot topic in international relations like the Russo-Ukrainian War (which broke out in February 2022) can be approached in a variety of ways. The existing scientific literature about the Russo-Ukrainian conflict that culminated in this war leaves room for a classification and critical review of the approaches to its understanding. The author of this paper does it based on the four criteria: “assigning blame” for the conflict against the systemic approach; levels of analysis at which causes of the conflict are sought; IR theory/school of thought based on which the conflict is analysed; and historical against a nonhistorical approach. Separately considering the geopolitical approach and differentiating between the Russo-Ukrainian War and a wider Russo-Ukrainian conflict, as well as between deeper and precipitating causes of the conflict, the author uses his assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to suggest the one that would be optimal for understanding such an important topic

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In this paper, the authors investigate the development and scope of the European Political Community as a new initiative of the European Union. The establishment of the European Political Community will be examined in the changed geopolitical context created by the invasion of Ukraine. The European Union aspires to demonstrate its readiness and ability to decisively influence opportunities on the entire continent, especially in circumstances of strategic rivalry with Russia. However, the longer-term goals, and therefore the outcomes of the European Political Community, are not completely clear since the initiative has only existed since the Prague Summit (second half of 2022). The authors are primarily guided by historical analysis (a chronological overview of the development of the initiative) and elements of a liberal intergovernmental approach. The paper argues that if the Initiative is viewed as a format for the occasional gathering of state leaders of all European countries (opposed to aggression against Ukraine), it can be viewed as primarily successful, as evidenced by several summits attended by many European leaders. However, if it is seen as the nucleus of a new international organisation or institutionalised platform for cooperation in Europe, there are many challenges, starting from the fact that many similar bodies already exist (the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, etc.) to the fact that numerous candidates for EU membership have reservations about participating in a format that, hypothetically, can serve as an alternative forfull membership. In this sense, the aspect of institutional identity, i.e., the specific field of action, is considered and, consequently, the purpose of such an initiative, bearing in mind the above-mentioned challenges.

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The subject of this research is the analysis of the impact that separatism in the department of Santa Cruz in Bolivia has on the destabilisation of this country, primarily through the study of two cases: the months-long rebellion of the rich and lowland eastern departments led by Santa Cruz against the central government in 2008 and the role played by separatist political forces from Santa Cruz in carrying out the coup d’état against Evo Morales in 2019. The research aims to validate the first hypothesis, which holds that Santa Cruz separatism is a historical category and that it causes social, political, and economic tensions between the western and eastern regions of Bolivia, which are geographically and culturally distinct from one another. The results of the research showed that separatism in the department of Santa Cruz is one of the key factors in the destabilisation of Bolivia because there are farright-oriented political parties and movements, as well as politicians and influential rich people who are strongly against the left-wing regime and who want to create an independent state on the soil of this department. The research’s conclusion highlights the historical rivalry between Bolivia’s eastern and western parts while also emphasising the necessity of demystifying the superiority of the Santa Cruz identity over native identities and fostering dialogue to end it. We employed historical, case study, and comparative analytic methods during the research.

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The paper analyses the complex position of Palestine in the modern international community. Introductory remarks create the necessary framework within which the analysis is carried out, and they consists of both the complex historical context and references to theories of recognition in international public law. The central analysis rests on two facts. The first observes Palestine in the context of multilateral diplomacy, analysing its relations with the United Nations, the European Union, and UNESCO. The second focuses on complex judicial practice on the international level, primarily through the relationship with the International Criminal Court and the implementation of the Rome Statute, as well as with the International Court of Justice, exclusively through the upcoming procedure of issuing an advisory opinion requested by the General Assembly, which will inevitably have to pay attention to the question of the international legal status of Palestine.

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Water and climate change are inherently linked because climate change complicates existing problems related to access to clean water, such as civil conflicts hindering access to water sources, underdeveloped infrastructure, overpopulation, and wastewater pollution. Relying on the basic factors of securitization theory, the paper examines the possibilities of the securitization process in solving problems caused by climate change. For the case study, vulnerable countries in Sub-Saharan Africa were selected and analysed in relation to the issue of insufficient drinking water. The lack of drinking water, caused by various factors, means that demands for water resources and human consumption are disproportionate. Dominant problems African countries face include drought, floods, and water pollution, as evidenced by examples from South Africa, Tanzania, Chad, Madagascar, Kenya, Malawi, and Ghana. The paper concludes that despite the measures taken and certain progress, African countries do not meet all the conditions suggested by securitization, and furthermore, they lack the means to finance such endeavours. In the foreseeable future, addressing the problem within a regional framework and cooperation among African countries in that format show greater potential for resolving this complex problem.

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This article explores the crisis of the dispute settlement system in the World Trade Organization and the prospects for overcoming it. This is but one facet of the multi-year crisis of the multilateral trading system and the necessity of reforming the WTO. Part of this organization’s members submitted to the General Council their perspectives on the current situation and proposals for reforms regarding various challenges that the organization faces in its operations. Using an analysis of the presented proposals and offered alternatives to end the dispute settlement system’s crisis that were submitted between 2018 and 2023, the article aims to investigate the likelihood that WTO members will be able to come to an agreement regarding how to reslove the crisis and the extent of the suggested solutions for reforming the system. The findings show a divide between the key global trade actors: the US, which initiated the Appellate Body crisis and opposes other WTO members’ suggestions, and, on the other side, the EU and China, which have demonstrated a readiness to cooperate to resolve this issue. Developing and least developed countries showed unity and put forward proposals that reflected their viewpoints. The primary conclusion of the paper is that the range of proposed solutions and existing alternatives is limited due to the refusal of the US to cooperate with other members, and no resolution to the ongoing crisis can be anticipated until the United States revises its positions.

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The basic research question is whether the EU could grow from a major player to a global power, without realism in EU foreign policy. The question is being considered from the macro level of the structural-realist analysis of the contemporary international system. The subject of the article is a explanation of the impact of the change in polarity (bipolar and unipolar) of the international system on the emerging forms of enlargement and EU enlargement policy. In the context of the changed EU enlargement policy, the article discusses the problem of the (absence) of the need for a realistic EU foreign policy, which would be based on the ability to use its own force, in accordance with the analysis of the structure of the world and the existing international divisions which are shaping the new world order. The article aims to show the change in the forms of enlargement in the two observed time periods and to provide a scientific explanation of the said change, or rather to offer a scientific forecast of the EU’s foreign policy action in the multipolar system. The paper point out that in the emerging multipolar structure of the new world order and competitive models of organizing the world, as well as under the pressure of structural influences in the international system, the EU must be capable of conducting an effective broad-spectrum foreign policy which, apart from multilateralism, should also be based on realism and the possibilities for the use of force.

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The mechanism for protecting European values, including the rule of law, was first formulated in the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997 and has gone through two revisions. Due to the lack of usage of the Mechanism because of the possibility of introducing harsh sanctions, the European Union adopted multiple supplementary regulations for the Mechanism in Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union. These supplementary mechanisms were used in the case of Poland and Hungary, but they did not lead to a drastic improvement of the state of the rule of law in these countries. The goal of this paper is to understand the evolution of the protection of the rule of law in the European Union and the shortcomings of the existing mechanisms, as well as to consider proposals for increasing their efficiency. The primary reasons for this ineffectiveness are usually attributed to the intense politicization of the use of Article 7, the unwillingness of member states and Union institutions to use the Mechanism, the long duration of initiated processes, as well as the high stakes at play due to potentially very harsh sanctions. The proposal for the reform of the European Union by the Franco-German working group was designed as a way to deal with the mentioned shortcomings. The hypothesis of the paper is that the proposed reforms could increase the efficiency of the protection of the rule of law in the European Union, but that it is not likely for them to be adopted because they need to be accepted by all member states of the Union. The theoretical framework used to prove the hypothesis is liberal intergovernmentalism.

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This paper analyzes the constitutional and legal framework regulating the system of regional ethnic autonomy in the People’s Republic of China. As one of the most significant elements of the political system of the PRC, the system of regional ethnic autonomy serves to protect the rights of minority ethnic groups within it. In addition, the system is significant for the efforts of the central Chinese authorities to ensure coexistence and overall social stability in regions with diverse ethnic compositions. The paper first provides a definition of the concept of regional ethnic autonomy in the literature and what this concept empirically refers to. Building on this conceptual framework, the paper traces the evolution of the system of regional ethnic autonomy in China, from its initial introduction after the founding of the People’s Republic of China to its subsequent optimization through constitutional and legal reforms. Focusing on the legal framework and institutional design, the paper deals with constitutional provisions, the Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy, as well as other official documents relating to regional ethnic autonomy, aiming to demonstrate how they shape the structure, scope, and mechanisms of the system of regional ethnic autonomy in the PRC. The emphasis is on those aspects of the system related to issues of establishing ethnic autonomous areas and their self-governing bodies, as well as the allocation of decision-making powers between local and central authorities.

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The concept of the Fragile city represents a more recent and increasingly significant notion within the study of security, owing both to its pronounced association with the strength of the nation-state and its potential for opening new theoretical, empirical, and practical dilemmas within the scholarly disciplines of International Relations and Security Studies. While initially situated within the context of international and national security, the Fragile city increasingly becomes a framework for the examination of urban security. Therefore, the aim of this paper is directed towards assessing the sustainability of the idea of Fragile cities as an independent theoretical concept, which is relatively independent from the concept of weakness/fragility of the nation-state. In this paper, the authors provide an overview and critically analyze existing definitions of Fragile cities, determining three ways in which fragility is related to cities: 1) cities within the context of fragile/weak states; 2) fragile cities within fragile/weak states; and 3) fragility of developed cities. Towards the end of the paper, the authors present potential directions for future consideration, as well as possible avenues for the application of the concept of Fragile cities in future (urban) security research.

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The purpose of this paper is to contribute to research on the privatization of war, specifically, the role that American private military companies, particularly Military Professional Resources Incorporated (MPRI), played in shaping the security architecture and geopolitical landscape in the former Yugoslavia. Based on the analysis of relevant literature and available documents, the authors seek to answer the primary research question: Did private military companies from the United States have a significant role in the wars in the former Yugoslavia, or was their role more secondary? In addressing this question, the authors start from the hypothesis that MPRI played a significant role in the wars in the former Yugoslavia. By providing logistical support, arming, and training Croatian armed forces, MPRI influenced the end of the war in Croatia, which was accompanied by the ethnic cleansing of the Serbian population. Additionally, MPRI was involved in Bosnia and Herzegovina by assisting Muslim and Croatian forces and contributed to the destabilization of Kosovo and Metohija (KiM) and Macedonia through the training and financing of Albanian paramilitary and terrorist formations. The methodology includes a review of scientific and professional literature, testimonies before international judicial bodies, reports from non-governmental organizations, and media articles. The authors conclude that, although the exact extent cannot be determined, MPRI’s role was significant in the wars in the former Yugoslavia, considering the outcomes achieved with their support.

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Although an adequate approach to energy resources has always been a strategic value for states, it seems that international interest in this issue has never been greater than it is today. The interconnection of the energy sector with phenomena such as combating climate change, energy transition, and the securitization of energy dependence and energy relations has contributed to treating access to energy resources as a matter of high politics. In addressing the numerous challenges related to energy issues, therefore, states employ various political means at their disposal. The European Union, as one of the largest energy consumers, significantly shapes the global energy market through its external energy politics. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to present the key components of the European energy diplomacy. The author starts from the assumption that specific contextual factors have influenced the evolution of European energy diplomacy and shaped it into a more assertive approach. The methodological framework contains a critical literature review and secondary data analysis serving the identification of key determinants of European external energy politics.